Grain legume protein quality: a hot subject

Abstract

RESUMEN:Las leguminosas grano tienen un alto potencial en alimentación humana y animal siendo una importante fuente de proteínas así como de otros compuestos beneficiosos para la nutrición y salud. La proteína es uno de los ingredientes más demandados y las leguminosas grano son una delas fuentes más sostenible de proteína. Sin embargo, no todas las leguminosas grano son igual de nutritivas, variando la calidad con la composición de aminoácidos y su digestibilidad. En este artículo revisaremos los conceptos de calidad de la proteína y discutiremos las posibilidades de mejora genética. Para abordar con éxito la mejora de la calidad de la proteína será de gran ayuda disponer de bases de datos con los perfiles de aminoácidos y de digestibilidad, así como de información cuantitativa sobre los compuestos bioactivos que reducen la digestibilidad, todo ello unido a mé-todos fiables para su evaluación. El desarrollo de variedades de leguminosas con una proteína de mayor calidad, más ajustadas a las necesidades tanto humanas como del ganado, permitirá una mayor eficiencia nutritiva, reduciendo el contenido de proteína en la dieta y los costes asociados, así como la excreción de nitró-geno, disminuyendo el impacto medioambiental.PALABRAS CLAVE: Leguminosas grano; calidad de la proteína; aminoácidos; digestibilidad; factores anti nutritivos ABSTRACT: Grain legumes, also called pulses, play a key role in the nutritional improvement of food and feed. These legumes are important sources of protein as well as other nutritional compounds. Today, protein is one of the most sought after ingredients in the market and grain legumes represent one of the most sustainable protein sources. However, not all grain legume proteins are nutritionally equal. Their quality varies and depends on their amino acid composition and digestibility. In this article, we review concepts related to grain legume protein quality and discuss challenges regarding their genetic improvement. A comprehensive database of grain legume amino acid profiles and protein digestibility is needed to address the matter of protein quality in grain legume breeding. This database will be enhanced by quantitative information on digestibility-reducing bioactive compounds and the development of reliable screening tools. The achievement of higher protein quality grain legume varieties, better adjusted to animal and human requirements, will cut dietary protein content, associated costs and nitrogen excretion, thus reducing the environmental impact.

Disclosing the Nutritional Quality Diversity of Portuguese Common Beans—The Missing Link for Their Effective Use in Protein Quality Breeding Programs

“…The nutritional and protein quality of a common bean variety influences its economic value [36], and so these criteria are gaining supporters among legume breeders for common bean selection [21], especially in developing countries where the priority should be the development of adapted nutritionally-rich legumes to supply populations' dietary needs.…”

“…According to the World Health data platform, worldwide, in 2019, 21.3% (144 million), 6.9% (47 million) and 5.6% (38 million) of all children under 5 years old were suffering from, respectively, stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height) or overweight (excess weight for height) [1]. Factors such as limited natural resources and vital cropland, poor investment in affordable sustainable food systems and the lack of access to local food diversity are among the major causes of malnutrition [2,3].…”

“…Strategies such as blending legumes and cereals in the diet to balance amino acid intake and/or selecting through breeding programs, from locally adapted legume collections, the most promising genotypes in terms of amino acid contents, represent effective approaches for protein quality improvement in foods [21]. The breeding strategy should be promoted to ensure the future access of human populations to viable legume varieties characterized by higher protein quality.…”

Characterization of Soaking Process’ Impact in Common Beans Phenolic Composition: Contribute from the Unexplored Portuguese Germplasm

“…Despite the recommendations, nowadays the consumption of common beans, even in the most traditional markets, known by their Mediterranean diet, is decreasing, mainly as a consequence of dietary habit changes [5,6]. In Portugal, regardless of the national rich common bean germplasm [7], data from 2007 to 2017 reported a production decrease of 53%.…”

Portuguese Common Bean Natural Variation Helps to Clarify the Genetic Architecture of the Legume’s Nutritional Composition and Protein Quality

“…Protease inhibitors are among these bioactive compounds, as they are anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic compounds, and simultaneously interfere with digestion through the irreversible inhibition of trypsin and chymotrypsin (reviewed in [ 6 ]). Trypsin inhibitors interfere for instance with protein digestibility, reducing protein quality, a nutritional quality-related trait that has gained importance in recent years [ 11 ]. Protein quality is also evaluated in terms of amino acid composition.…”